Fly Away In the Morning Glow
by BetaraiL
Summary: When you don't know the right words to say, a simple gesture can say it all...


**Fly Away in the Morning Glow**

**_Inuyasha's Point of View_**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-yasha. If I did, EVERYONE would know.**

**A/N-- This is a partner to the story 'Fly Away in the Morning Glow' by Wings of Ash. It is the same story, only it is from Inu-Yasha's Point of View.**

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"Inuyasha, why don't you just come down? It'll only be one more day!" Miroku tried helplessly to shake Inuyasha from the branches of the Goshinboku.

"Keh." Came the reply. Shaking his head Miroku headed back in the direction of the village.

'A week… is way too long. I knew I never should have promised to not follow her.' He thought bitterly to himself.

The whole week had gone by like this. He had spent every moment he could nestled high in the branches of the Goshinboku, waiting for Kagome's return. He preferred the branches of the Goshinboku to the confinement of the village and only returned there periodically to eat and to bash Shippo on the head for being a nuisance.

He also liked the fact that the great tree still stood tall in Kagome's time. Sitting in the branches of the great tree made him feel all the more closer to her even though they were still 500 years apart.

He leaned back and sighed. How he hated it when she was away. It always made him feel…empty. Like a part of him was missing, and he always found it hard to find things to do when Kagome wasn't around.

Damn, he missed her. He missed the comforting feel of her weight on his back as he ran with her through the forests patrolling for demons around the village. He missed the calming scent of lavender and tulips that was Kagome.

'I should always be at her side… pathetic human, who knows what kinds of trouble she'll get into if I'm not there to protect her…' he grinned as he said that. Protecting Kagome gave him a sense of purpose, a reason to always be by her side. And the jewel shards… they gave him a reason to protect her all the more.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deep the scents of the forest. The sharp tang of the spring blossoms, the crisp scent of the nearby creek…the ever so calming scent of lavender and tulips…

"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried and leapt up from the branches of the Goshinboku and landed with a graceful leap on the forest floor. "Bout time!" he grinned and took off deeper into the forest.

"This isn't the direction of the well…" the thought came upon him as he reached the edge of a small clearing. The stink of clay and rotting bones hit him hard. A soft growl escaped his lips at being fooled.

"Kikyo."

She turned to face him, her gaze as cold as ever a bouquet of tulips in her hand and a sprig of lavender behind her ear. She reached up with her free hand and plucked the lavender our from behind her ear as she took a few steps closer to him shooting him an icy glare.

"To think you'd come when I haven't even called."

It was then that Inuyasha noticed her soul collectors dancing around the small clearing. He hadn't noticed them at the Goshinboku, as he was too absorbed in his own thoughts and wishing that Kagome would return early. In his haste to get to Kagome he had failed to notice that Kikyo's soul collectors were scattered all around the forest watching.

He growled, cursing his own foolishness, but remained silent returning Kikyo's gaze.

"But you came anyways," Kikyo mused her voice as cold and void as ever. "Was it because I smelled like your precious Kagome?" Her eyes bore into his amber one's daring him to answer.

Inuyasha lowered his gaze to the forest floor, no longer able to meet her gaze. Kikyo had used his own nose against him and it worked to her advantage.

"No, Kikyo… I…" he started but she cut him off her voice rising.

"You know she doesn't belong here Inuyasha." She spat out his name like it was something vile and disgusting. "The flow of time will be disrupted if she stays here… you know that."

Inuyasha's ears pricked as heard the snap of a twig, but he brushed it off as a squirrel as Kikyo continued.

"Send her home Inuyasha… she does not belong here…we do not need her." She stressed the word 'we' and it stung him deep.

A part of him still felt guilty about Kikyo's death and that he was obligated to stand by her as a sign of the promise he made to her over 50 years ago. But his obligation to Kagome hung around his neck reminding him of their connection. He was at a crossroads once again… and he didn't know what to do or how to choose.

Try as he might he could not bring himself to stand up to Kikyo. He remained silent and hung his head.

His ears pricked at the sound of footsteps and when he looked up Kikyo was gone and the only evidence of their encounter being a small sprig of lavender lying at his feet.

* * *

He stood outside the hut, unable to bring himself to go inside.

Kagome was back early.

He knew she was back the minute he left the clearing on his way back to the village. He breathed in the calming scent of lavender and tulips. How could he have mistaken Kikyo for her?

His ears cocked at the sound of the joyful shrieks of Kagome and the others as a loud popping sound reached his ears followed by Shippo's playful shrieks. They seemed happy. Kagome sure sounded happy. Gathering all his courage he reached up and pulled the flap of the hut back and strode in, careful to wipe any traces of guilt off his face.

Kagome spun to face him her raven hair flapping from the quickness of her spin.

Her bright eyes locked with his amber ones but the light quickly left them. She looked at him and her eyes shone with a hurt almost accusing look to them.

'She couldn't know…couldn't possibly know… She couldn't have overheard.' His mind kept telling him over and over again as she continued to stare at him with those cold hard eyes, so unlike the ones he was used to seeing.

He gazed back at her and his eyes shone with a mixture of hurt, at seeing her look at him with such a cold gaze, and guilt.

He watched as she turned and sat down between Sango and Kaede across the fire.

'Did she do that on purpose?' the thought entered his mind as he slowly sat down across the fire from her. The uncomfortable silence hung thick and heavy coating the room with a sharp tension. Thinking quickly he decided it would be best if he were the one to break the ice.

"Kagome. What are you doing back so soon?" He barked out rudely, but even as he said it he stared at her hard and unmoving, trying to pull her gaze towards him, anything to get her to look at him now.

"Well I finished my test early and saw no point in hanging around my house alone." Inuyasha continued to stare at her, willing her to look up at him, as she fiddled with her bag.

When quite suddenly she slammed it down fiercely and glared up at him her gaze cold and accusing. Her eyes reflected back at him the image of the fire between them, and he for a moment he thought the fire had actually been present in her eyes.

"I just missed everyone so much." Her words were directed only to him and he knew it. For a long time they stared at eachother, the fire burning in Kagome's eyes and the shame and guilt reflecting in Inuyasha's.

He hung his head not knowing what to say.

* * *

Inuyasha sat in the branches of the old tree overlooking the village and gazed out at his friends. Evening was beginning to fall and everyone was out enjoying the last few moments of sun.

Shippo sat in the shade with Kirara nursing quite a bump on his head. The stupid kit had asked one too many awkward questions while in the hut, which only added to the tension that seemed to grow with every passing second.

Sango and Miroku were busily talking down by the river, while the old hag was still picking herbs in her garden.

The only thing missing was the sweet chime of Kagome's laugh and her usual bubbly demeanor. Currently she was lying in the shade of the hut and was what could only be considered as unusually quiet.

His curiosity got the better of him and he called out to her. Desperate to get some kind of a response out of her that didn't make him feel like a complete jerk for having gone off to see Kikyo.

"Eh! Kagome! What's wrong?" He watched her brow furrow in frustration as she began shaking out her sleeping bag in the shade.

"Nothing Inuyasha…" Her voice sounded bitter and lacked any real enthusiasm. "Just some stuff at home." The wind carried her reply back to his sensitive ears.

'Keh.' He muttered to himself, knowing deep down it was a lie. Kagome's family was the symbol of perfection at least as far as he could tell. The only real family's he had seen had been on one of those 'stories' Kagome had made him watch back at her time on that 'god-damned loud box thing.'

He was just about to respond when he noticed the way she clutched at her sleeping bag. Her knuckles were white.

For the second time that day, he held his tongue and hung his head.

* * *

'She couldn't have been… She couldn't have heard…' He thought, but now he wasn't so sure.

Something wasn't right.

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open and his ears pricked. Adrenaline threw his senses into overdrive as he tried to find the cause of his awakening. Scanning his surroundings quickly he found himself on the roof of the hut where the others were sleeping. He listened for the sound of their even breathing and could tell that they were all still asleep.

Everyone that is, except…

Inuyasha quickly hid himself in the shadows of the hut as the flap opened almost soundlessly and Kagome strode out heading for the forest.

"Kagome" He breathed. He watched her from the shadows as she reached the path that led into the deepest part of the woods. She looked back at the hut and for the briefest moment Inuyasha thought her gaze fell directly on him. Even from a distance the sadness in her eyes caused him to slink back into the shadows a little deeper.

'Kagome…Why are you so sad?' he thought as he watched her disappear into the depths of the forest. Leaping from the rooftop silently he headed in the direction she had taken, and upon reaching the forest alighted to the trees.

As soon as he caught up with her and saw the direction in which she had set off, he knew immediately where she was headed.

There was a small clearing in the center of the forest where he had taken her one night after he had been too restless to sleep. He smirked to himself as he remembered her begging him to take her.

_"Listen wench, just because I take you on runs during the day to scan the area for jewel shards DOESN'T mean…" He started but was quickly cut off by her pleas._

_"Oh Please Inuyasha? I promise this will be the only time!" She begged_.

In the end the look on her face had won him over and he'd brought her with him to the clearing where she'd told him she'd fallen in love with the place.

Her gracious smile had been worth it.

**Snap**

The snap of a twig brought him back to reality and he looked around to realize that he had stopped moving and that the branch he was currently standing on had cracked.

Cursing himself for his foolishness he quickly leapt to another, sturdier, branch and glanced down at Kagome who had also stopped moving and was now scanning her surroundings her eyes fearful and wide.

He stilled himself as her gaze fell upon the tree, which he was currently hiding in and breathed a silent sigh of relief when her eyes continued to scan searching for any sign of her midnight follower.

When she set off again at a somewhat quicker pace Inuyasha began to slink through the treetops silently.

With his sensitive demon nose, he could tell that there were no demons around that could harm her, but that didn't stop him from pursuing her.

'She doesn't belong here Inuyasha.' Kikyo's words echoed within his mind.

He winced inwardly as he leapt after Kagome through the trees. Now that Kikyo was no longer in front of him a million thoughts raced through his head. All things he wished he could have said to her, all of them defending Kagome.

Her scent drifted up to him on the midnight wind and it blended so delicately and perfectly that he wondered how he could ever have believed Kikyo's words. That he ever doubted that she belonged right here… here with him.

"Kagome…" He breathed, "I'm sorry."

Just then, Kagome stopped and whirred about so suddenly that Inuyasha thought she had heard him. But as she reached down to grasp a large stick, he had to chuckle to himself.

"Alright, come out whoever you are. I warn you! I have a weapon!" She proclaimed to the night, and Inuyasha decided it best to just face her before she poked her eye out with the stick.

"Stupid human wench. I seriously doubt that you could do any damage to anything with that stick. Let alone me." And he leapt from the trees to land gracefully before her with his usual cocky grin on his face.

She glared at him her face cold and hard, her eyes blazing with anger.

"What do you want? Why are you following me?" The anger in her gaze shocked him, then made him angry.

He glared right back at her. Didn't she know that he was there to protect her, to keep her safe? Didn't she know he worried about her?

"I want to know where you're going in the middle of the night. I'm following you to make sure you don't get yourself killed. Satisfied?" He shot back at her with a smug grin.

The cold stare that Kagome gave him as he said that made her look so much like Kikyo that it froze him to the spot as she raged.

"No. I am not satisfied! I wanted to go for a walk by myself! I don't need your protection! I can take care of myself." Her face was flushed with anger and she turned to walked away but paused and turned back slightly to face him. "Go back to the village Inuyasha. _I don't need your protection anymore_." She was no longer raging and the iciness in her voice made him wish she was still yelling.

He watched her walk away deeper into the woods, heading towards the clearing he knew she loved and he felt so hurt and confused that he just stood there and let her walk away.

* * *

_'I don't need your protection anymore'_

That one had stung. The fact that she thought she didn't need him, or maybe didn't even want him around hurt more.

_He had to know._

He didn't head back to the village like she'd said.

_No… He needed to know…_

He took off after her down the path and as he saw the clearing approaching he slowed down, careful to go unnoticed.

'Kagome' He breathed as he saw her walk to the center of the clearing. She looked up at the stars… and then fell to her knees.

Inuyasha gasped as she fell and had every intention of going to catch her when the salty scent of her tears hit him full on and froze him to the spot.

Her sobs racked her body shaking her thin frame until she fell over sideways to land in the soft grass.

He watched, horrified, as Kagome cried openly to the heavens. His Kagome. The strangest, most wonderful person he knew. The girl who had fearlessly stood up to himself and even to the mighty Sesshomaru, was now crying and it hurt him.

The soft wind brought her pleas to his sensitive ears and he clenched his fists so hard he almost drew blood.

"Why does it have to hurt so much… Just let it stop…please…"

But he didn't know how to make it stop...so he watched.

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How long had he been standing there? Frozen, useless, the woman he cared about had fallen apart before his very eyes and he had been able to do nothing.

For it was his fault.

How long had he watched her cry, he didn't know. One moment she was pleading with the heavens for the ache in her heart to stop, and the next thing he knew she was fast asleep, her breathing slow and even, the scent of her tears still fresh on the wind.

He knew now that Kagome had been at the clearing during his encounter with Kikyo. How long she had been there and how much she had overheard he had no idea. There was no way he could ever explain to her what happened, and no way she could ever understand.

But there was one thing he could do.

Walking silently into the clearing careful so as not to make the slightest sound and awaken her he approached. Slipping his haori off as he walked, he looked up at the heavens and the crescent moon shone down upon him lighting the clearing with a misty blue glow.

Kneeling down beside her sleeping and now peaceful form, he laid the haori over top of shoulders as if it were a blanket and it covered most of her body.

'That should keep her warm,' He thought to himself before laying down next to her, close enough so that she could feel his warmth next to her…but never touching so as not to wake her. Content, he sniffed the air to find her sweet scent all around him. He breathed a sigh of relief.

He would stay by her side, just for tonight, protecting her just like he had always done.

Why is it you always think of the best things to say to someone after the fact? Now, lying here beside Kagome, it was painfully clear what he should have said to Kikyo.

Cause she did belong here…she belonged right beside him.

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A/N--This story has been written since like the summer. I was just far too lazy to type it up until Wings of Ash forced me too. I hope you enjoyed it. I know I don't do much writing on here. If I get enough positive feedback maybe I could be encouraged to write some more. With the help of the Deceptress and WOA of course. Thanks for reading. Please Review.

--WingsofAsh: Well here it is! After much anticipation, BetaraiL finally got off her butt and wrote the other half to the story. I think it is a good ending to the story……But I think the one I wrote with the help of Deceptress might have been more fun and frustrating at the same time to write. But I would like to thank betaraiL for agreeing to write this half. This story, both parts, has been brought to you by: WingsOfAsh, (Enter funny slogan here), Deceptress, the Queen of the Lie, and BetaraiL, the craftiest liar I know.

--Deceptress: I have never been prouder of my two betas. PS I wrote the ending.


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